Introduction

What does the word "eternity" mean to you?

One always tends to associate the concept of eternity with figures such as a thousand years, one million or a billion years. Such a concept of time seems to suggest an everlasting period. Similarly, what the concept of "infinite distance" evokes in the mind is great distances, like a hundred thousand or a million light years.

Nevertheless, even if you endeavor to think of the greatest figure possible, you are still limited by the intellectual capacity of your mind. An example would contribute to a fuller understanding of the extraordinary extent of eternity:  if a quadrillion of people spent all their lives, lasting also a quadrillion years, doing nothing but counting numbers, day and night without stopping, they would still fail to arrive at eternity, since eternity as a concept has no beginning and no end.

In the Sight of Allah, the Almighty, this concept of the "everlasting" and accordingly absolutely incomputable, has already ended. Eternity, which appears to be an unattainable concept for us, is actually just a single moment in the Sight of Allah.

This book presents to you unprecedented explanations of timelessness, spacelessness and eternity, and makes you confront an important fact: that eternity has already begun. The realization of this fact will make you once again appreciate Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, and His Creation. Meanwhile, you will find comprehensible answers to some frequently asked questions: Where is Allah? What is the resurrection? What is the true nature of death? Is there an endless life? And when will all these happen?

Yet, before proceeding with these issues, some concepts like "the real nature of matter" and "timelessness," will be dealt with in detail for a better comprehension of the above—mentioned subject.

The Secret Beyond Matter is not Wahdatul Wujood

The topic called "The Real Essence of Matter" has been criticized by some people. Having misunderstood the essence of the subject, these people claim that what is explained as the secret beyond matter is identical to the teaching of Wahdatul Wujood. Let us state, before all else, that the author of this book is a believer strictly abiding by the doctrine of Ahlus Sunnah and does not defend the view of Wahdatul Wujood.

However, it should also be remembered that Wahdatul Wujood was defended by some leading Islamic scholars including Muhyiddin Ibn al-'Arabi. It is true that numerous significant Islamic scholars who described the concept of Wahdatul Wujood in the past did so by considering some subjects found in these books. Still, what is explained in these books is not the same as Wahdatul Wujood.

Some of those who defended the view of Wahdatul Wujood were engrossed by some erroneous opinions and made some claims contrary to the Qur'an and the doctrine of Ahlus Sunnah. They, for example, completely rejected the Creation of Allah. When the subject of the secret beyond matter is told, however, there is definitely no such claim. This section explains that all beings are created by Allah, and that the originals of these beings are seen by Him whereas people merely see the images of these beings formed in their brains.

Mountains, plains, flowers, people, seas—briefly everything we see and everything that Allah informs us in the Qur'an that exists and that He created out of nothing is created and does indeed exist. However, people cannot see, feel or hear the real nature of these beings through their sense organs. What they see and feel are only the copies that appear in their brains. This is a scientific fact taught at all schools primarily in medicine. The same applies to the article you are reading now; you can not see nor touch the real nature of it. The light coming from the original article is converted by some cells in your eyes into electrical signals, which are then conveyed to the sight center in the back of your brain. This is where the view of this article is created. In other words, you are not reading an article which is before your eyes through your eyes; in fact, this article is created in the sight center in the back of your brain. The article you are reading right now is a "copy of the article" within your brain. The original article is seen by Allah.

In conclusion, the fact that the matter is an illusion formed in our brains does not "reject" the matter, but provides us information about the real nature of the matter: that no person can have connection with its original.

There is Matter Outside of Us, But We cannot Reach It

… [S]aying that matter is an illusion does not mean it does not exist. Quiet the contrary: whether we perceive the physical world or not, it does exist. But we see it as a copy in our brain or, in other words, as an interpretation of our senses. For us, therefore, the physical world of matter is an illusion.

The matter outside is seen not just by us, but by other beings too. The angels Allah delegated to be watchers witness this world as well:

Most importantly, Allah sees everything. He created this world with all its details and sees it in all its states. As He informs us in the Qur'an:

It must not be forgotten that Allah keeps the records of everything in the book called Lawh Mahfuz (Preserved Tablet). Even if we don't see all things, they are in the Lawh Mahfuz. Allah reveals that He keeps everything's record in the "Mother of the Book" called Lawh Mahfuz with the following verses:

Telling The Truth About Matter Terrifies Materialists

ADNAN OKTAR: People will see that physical laws are something rather illusory. We'll say they do exist, but are also a bit fantastical. That is because Allah has no need of physical laws. Physical laws only exist for us to believe in various things, and to create a logic. That is why we say that gravity exists, that the wind bears helicopters along when they take off and come back. In practical terms these things are not too believable. Looking in practical terms. For example, I am speaking with an image in my brain, but say that you are sitting opposite me, 3 meters away. But that is not true. I can take my oath on that, it is not true. I would be lying to say the person in my brain is 3 meters away. According to vision, he is 3 meters away. We can say that this is how it appears because of the quality of the film. For instance, we watch a film on the TV at home, and there are cars in the background and people in the front. The cars may be 100-150 meters behind, but everything is on the same plane. The image forms on the same plane in people's heads, so there is no variation, in other words. I am seeing you at this moment. That image forms in a very tiny space, no bigger than the tip of my pen. But you appear to me as a full-size woman. As a full-scale human being. But I am seeing you in a tiny space, I see you very large in my brain since I look at it from a close distance. You know how people returning from hajj have those tiny pictures on their prayer beads, the ones we used to look at as children? They also looked very large. But they were in a tiny space. You could see a whole world in a very small space. That is how it is in the human brain. It all looks very large. For example, someone far away looks smaller, someone close looks larger. Someone closer looks even larger. But it is as if they are all on photographic frames in the brain. You interpret that image as being very large. You interpret it like that according to the information on your brain, though it actually forms in a tiny space in your brain. Look, the cameramen can be seen this much over there. But that is how they appear in the brain, and that is all. This is really how they form in the brain. But when asked, we say no, there is actually a full-size human being 4 meters in front of us.

PRESENTER: And it is very interesting that we can see people in different size and with different profiles, some being tall and others short, some fat and others thin. And this is also very interesting.

ADNAN OKTAR: Yes, for example, there is a bright light, but there is no light on the outside. In a book, it says that physicists have been terrified finding out the reality of this. They say they have been terrified to realize it. They realized with a great fear. That is why they are not telling people about it very much.

PRESENTER: But why are they so reluctant to tell people about it?

ADNAN OKTAR: If you talk about this to someone busy enjoying himself in a nightclub it will ruin his whole evening and he will no longer be able to have any fun. Someone stands in front of his factory and says what a wonderful plant he has built. But the whole place is in a tiny space in his brain. He says he has all these factories, and a yacht over there and a Lamborghini in front of him. He says they are all there, but they actually all form in his brain. But they don't want to hear that because it depresses them, and they regard it unpleasant. And there are a lot of people who don't want to hear it. I used to tell my friends in the academy, during my time there. The leftists had threatened me, though the atmosphere was normally a free one. They told me not to tell them or anyone else about it. In other words, it is impossible for anyone to hear it and still remain a materialist. I dealt with the whole issue. There is no need even to mention Darwinism once you have told people about this. It paralyzes them. For instance, there was a friend of mine in the academy, Hasib, I still remember his name, and there is no harm in mentioning it. I told him, he understood and went bright red. Right to the roots of his hair. And he never spoke to me again. He understood at once. People then try to forget it, but they can't. Wherever you go, it rises up before you. Once someone has learned it, he can never forget it. Even though there are ways of distracting oneself, such as listening to music or traveling. Or cracks up jokes. But it's a major reality.(From Mr. Adnan Oktar's interview on Samsun Aks TV and Ekintürk TV on October 7, 2009)